KUCHING, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- The auditor-general's department has agreed to make the necessary amendments to the Auditor-General's Report of 2008 on the management of forests in Sarawak, said Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.

He said the initial report by the department did not reflect the overall situation by concluding randomly about the long-term management of the state's forests.

"By taking the feedback of the Sarawak Forestry Department, I believe a more balanced and accurate perspective (on the state's forests' management) will be registered," he said when winding up the debate for his ministry at the state assembly sitting here today.

Awang Tengah said the Auditor-General had written to him on Oct 29 and said his department agreed to take into account the feedback from the forestry department.

He said the auditor-general's department did not have the expertise in forest management and the information by the state forestry department was not taken into account for the initial audit report.

On the weaknesses in forest management as raised by the opposition, Awang Tengah said the issues and allegations against a small group of forestry department officers said to be "shirkers" was an old episode as corrective and improvement action had been taken.

"The issue related to legal action by the Forestry Department's Workers Union has been settled and need not be raised in this august assembly," he said.

He said the allegation by Voon Lee Shan (Batu Lintang-DAP) against Barisan Nasional assemblymen being "yes men" and "rubber stamps" was also an insult to the House and their wisdom, who supported the Sarawak Forest Corporation Ordinance laws.

On the smuggling of timber from a neighbouring country, he said the state government did not allow the import of timber from abroad, including neighbouring countries that banned export, except with documentation issued by the originating country.

Awang Tengah said the practice of long-term forest management was implemeted in the Kekal Forest Reserve with an area of 5.2 million hectares gazetted, as well as Totally Protected Areas of 0.7 million hectares, that involves 56 per cent of the 12.4 million hectares of Sarawak land.